Binge Drinking Is A National Problem --Even With Senior Citizens By Grace WiltbankContributing Writer Binge drinking is a national problem — sparing no area of the country and no adult age groups. In fact, the age group that binge drinks the most often — believe it or not — is the group over the age of 65! This is the latest news from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), headquartered in Atlanta, GA. The CDC did not speculate why binge drinking is such a problem among the senior set. Instead, the agency restricted itself first to defining the problem and then in describing what it costs in blood and money. The CDC said that more than 38 million U.S. adults binge drink about four times a month and the largest number of drinks per binge is on average eight drinks. “This behavior greatly increases the chances of getting hurt or hurting others due to car crashes, violence and suicide,” the CDC said. “Drinking too much, including binge drinking, causes 80,000 deaths in the U.S. each year and in 2006 (the last year for which figures are available) it cost the economy $223.5 billion.” The CDC added that binge drinking is a problem in all states, even in states with fewer binge drinkers, because they are binging more often and in larger amounts. According to the CDC, binge drinking occurs when men drink five or more alcoholic drinks within a short period of time and when women drink four or more drinks within a short period of time. While old folks binge drink more often than any other age group, the CDC said, the age group with the most binge drinkers is the 18 to 34 year-old group. The income group with the most binge drinkers is the group making more than $75,000 per year. However, the income group that drinks as often as the seniors but also drinks the most per binge is the group that makes less than $25,000 per year. The CDC added that ironically “most people who binge drink are not alcohol dependent or alcoholic.” Be that as it may, the CDC said that drinking too much, including binge drinking, costs the country $746 per person or $1 a drink in the U.S. in 2006. The costs associated with binge drinking, the agency explained, include healthcare expenses, crime and lost productivity. Drinking too much, the CDC added, contributes to more than 54 different injuries and diseases, including sexually transmitted diseases and injuries from car crashes, falls and violence. While binge drinking is a national problem, the CDC’s figures show the problem is worse in some regions than it is in others. The CDC said that estimates of adults who binge drink range from 10.9 percent in Utah to 25.6 percent in Wisconsin. Binge drinking, the agency added, is most common in the midwest, New England, the District of Columbia, Alaska and Hawaii. CDC’s figures show that binge drinking is significantly worse in Pennsylvania than it is in New Jersey.

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